“Open Don’t Mean Free”: A Reflection on the Potential Advantages and Disadvantages of Publishing Research via Open Access

Author:

Frank C Manista

MIMAS The University of Manchester 5.14 Roscoe Building M13 9PL

Abstract

Earlier this year, the British government approached Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, to assist in making “taxpayer-funded academic research more widely available online.” The logic behind this decision was two-fold: like Wikipedia, open access (OA) publishing can translate into distributing research in a more timely fashion than traditional modes. Just as importantly, the Wikipedia approach attempts to disrupt the traditional model. That is, research is paid for, or subsidised by, public money but the public often does not have access to it unless they pay either a subscription or a “pay-per-view” fee. In essence, the public pays twice for the same goods. An OA approach could equate to getting what we, the public, paid for the first time.

How to Cite:
Manista, F.C., (2012). “Open Don’t Mean Free”: A Reflection on the Potential Advantages and Disadvantages of Publishing Research via Open Access. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication. 1(2), p.eP1049. DOI: http://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.1049